Realizations

I was incredibly lucky to snag a VISTA position with so much support. I overlaped with Claudine, the previous VISTA who established the whole position, by a whole glorious month so she can show me the ropes, tell me her visions for data collection, and answer all my nagging questions (apparently the scissors were right behind me...who knew). My supervisor, Beth, has a good memory of what Claudine did and what needs to be done so I don't have to float in some vague, goal-less void. As for the rest of the BCSL staff...they're just fun co-workers.

Mine is a unique position among Benefit Bank VISTAs (and potentially all other VISTAs). I'm working primarily with two organizations--the Benefit Bank and Oberlin College--to build connections and partnerships between the two. I do this by training Oberlin College student volunteers to navigate the Benefit Bank software for clients at Oberlin Community Services. So really, I'm responsible for trying to tighten these relationships:

• Benefit Bank/VISTA
• Benefit Bank/Oberlin College
• Benefit Bank/Oberlin Community Services
• Benefit Bank/clients
• Oberlin College/Oberlin Community Services
• Oberlin College/greater Oberlin community

That's a lot and I probably missed a few; I hadn't even realized how much that was until I typed it out. And that's not even counting the outreach work to LCCC and the other random Benefit Bank sites.

It's a long-winded partnership to explain since I am paid, supported, and housed by at least 3 or 4 different organizations --only one or two of which your average relative at a wedding probably hasn't heard of. I tried out several elevator speeches on new acquaintances this weekend and I'm still not sure which version is best.

Headed off to build relationships,
Ondrea
Americorps*VISTA, BCSL Enthusiast